Bihar, June 04: In a bizarre incident, a witness declared dead by the CBI in the journalist Rajdeo Ranjan’s murder case appeared before the Muzaffarpur court on Friday. The court issued a show-cause notice to the CBI, which is investigating the case, for submitting a false death report.
Additional sessions Judge Punit Kumar Garg also directed the CBI to submit its reply before June 20. Journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, who worked with Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’, was shot dead in 2016 by a group of five miscreants on his way home in Siwan, sparking nationwide outrage and protests.
The central agency had on May 24 submitted before the court that Badami Devi was dead and also provided her death verification report. On Friday, however, Badami Devi, in her 80s, presented herself before the court with an affidavit, calling it a conspiracy by the CBI. “I have been staying in my Kasera Toli residence in Siwan. I was made a witness in the case but no CBI official met me. Instead, it declared me dead, which I got to know through newspapers. It points to a conspiracy,” she was quoted as saying in her affidavit by Hindustan Times.
Rajdeo Ranjan (42), the bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan in Siwan, was shot dead at a busy market in Siwan town on May 13, 2016. On May 17, 2016, the Bihar government had recommended a CBI probe in the case, as requested also by the slain journalist’s wife Asha Ranjan.
Later, CBI had quizzed jailed former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin. The former MP, now dead, had refused to undergo a “lie detection” test. CBI had filed a charge sheet against six accused, including Shahabuddin. Till now, CBI has produced 24 witnesses, of which four have turned hostile.
CBI, #Journalist, #Rajdeo Ranjan #murdercase, #Bihar, #Patna
